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Tuesday, April 28, 2009

A Day After - Ugh...!!& a Secret Revealed!!


1 day after 'official zero waste week''s over, & both Dad & sis have gone shopping separately!

At least Sis brought her reusable bagpack & a previously used plastic bag!

Dad is not to be trusted though! (forgot to bring with more than 1 previously used plastic bag! so we have another already-torn mostly-useless baggie at home!) - & both he & Sis bought small packets of coffee!! (separately, each 2 x 100g!)
Just 100g of coffee is in a package almost the same size as 500g!!

Why they couldn't buy it together, is beyond me!

'But this is cheaper,' Sis says.
'I don't want _my sis_ telling me I'm using her coffee,' Dad grumbled.
(We only tease him cause he tells other people they can't drink coffee cause it's unhealthy! And because, well, he gets rheumatism back & is too-cranky if he drinks it!!)

Today, as I brought out the packets for a 'photo shoot' he exclaimed he had no idea we had so much coffee in the house!
& he said 'smaller packages are better, cause coffee doesn't go rancid in them so quickly' - I suggested storage in a tin box separately, & he said we'd just forget it then! So next I suggested storing extra coffee in a glass jar!
We may try this, keep your fingers crossed! Or do you have any better suggestions?

And Sis has bought 1 liter of yogurt in a tetrapak (even though we still have homemade! /sigh!/)

The stop-mail sticker is on its place on the door (Mom put it there!) - 'Dad hasn't noticed it yet!' Mom says...

I hoped I could relax a little after the zero waste week.. no such luck..?!

I feel quite hopeless about it all..

I need to control shopping lists somehow.. (Dad had anti-roach poison 'Biokill' on his list & luckily left it on the table for me to cross it off & promise I'd look for info online. After all I we DID manage to scare off the ants with no iffy chemicals whatsoever!!)

Well, Mom went shopping today too, brought some naked kiwis etc (with reused plastic & cloth bags!)

And now you probably want to know what Mom did!! :)

Final hint:


Mom wanted to boil some 'witches's brew' of anti-slug/anti-snail potion (to pour around 'attacked areas'!), & for me, it made no sense to just, uhm, kill 'em - in nature, animals mostly just kill for food, no?!! - & it was zero waste week!! :)

soo...



This is what we had for lunch yesterday! (among other things):)

Some animal lovers (like my Sis!) may be shocked - but actually, it was not so bad!
/And as she's never been vegetarian, I think it's pretty hypocritical of Sis to go 'Oooh!'/

We may need to cook 'em more, & some recipes & pre-prep ideas online are widely contradicting, but as a recipe says, anything with sauteed onions must be good!! :)

I didn't think my Mom would actually do it - but must tell you one thing - my Mom is BRAVE!

& woe for anyone who comes between her & her veggie garden...!! Oh my!!
/another poor rodent suffered a similar fate the other day.. I actually *did* briefly contemplate barbecue too - 'Look how nicely fat he is', Mom said - but you never know what they've eaten before, like Sis said.../

& yes, I did feel sorry for them & was briefly grossed out & fascinated, all at the same time.. I do admire Sepp Holzer in his approach to growing anything (if there are pests, he just plants something they like better than his trees!)
We don't know what snails could love better than our lettuce though?!!

Am contemplating to get his book that was recently published here in Slovenia, & hopefully discover some of his secrets! :)

Until then, I may have to agree with an article I came across: 'many people consider snails to be pests' (& use horribly toxic stuff or terrible methods to get rid of them! - ok, some ideas here are not-so-cruel & might be worth a try too?) - but actually, as another article says, 'they're a good source of protein?!' & completely free too!! So...?! :)

6 comments:

  1. Hi Layla!
    OMG!!!
    Did your mother cook the snails? :) I don't like them at all, perhaps for their look! I'm mostly vegetarian becouse my companion is indeed, but it's not because they are little creatures that we don't eat them. :)
    But I totally understand your Mum because they damage the veggies!
    It's like almost a struggle for survival! LOL
    Last year we planted three little plants of strawberries... they never grew for the voracity of snails! :( So if you will able to know how to keep them out of the garden (in a natural way) please tell me! I'll be very thankful!

    As regards coffee... tell your father that the best way to preserve it is to put it in a jar (a glass one or a tin one, with hermetic closure) and store it in the fridge. The hermetic closure is very important to keep it from humidity! ;)

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  2. Hi Danda!!

    lol Yes, my Mom annihilated the snails!! :)

    Actually I cooked them, as no one else wanted to! :)

    I was mostly vegetarian before too, so I couldn't actually touch raw meat or such, cooked/baked is okay..

    It really is like a struggle for survival.. We'll see if this 'witch's potion' will help any.. otherwise, in the article I posted, they say cleaning the garden can help, or maybe some sawdust or such? we might try the sawdust next, if this doesn't work..

    Thank you so much for tips about coffee!!
    I didn't know that it's good to put it in the fridge!
    Is a glass like for pickles or marmelade okay, or a tin box like for sugar (or coffee outside the fridge?).. or would it need to be more hermetic? (like with special plastic/rubber inbetween lid & box?)
    I almost don't drink coffee so I don't know much about it! :)

    Big *Thank you* once again!! :)

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  3. OMG That's definitely going some! LOL I find our new chickens work wonders for the snail-catching - as does spreading used coffee grounds. So once your Dad's had his coffee, you can spread the leftover grounds around the plants. :-D

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  4. lol!! :) Must've been psychic with the post then!! :)

    Thanks!! :)

    Just put the used stuff near attacked areas when dry, or just pour when wet? (& how much? any photos?)

    /I wish I knew this before, & Mum didn't have to commit massacre!! lol!!/

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  5. Hi Layla, sorry for the late reply!

    Thanks for the suggestion: sawdust or coffee ground (as Mrs A said) would be ok! I have plenty of coffe ground every day! :)

    To preserve better coffee, a jar with a rubber under the lid is the optimus, but even a tin box with a plastic lid is ok...

    I would give you some of mine! I have lots of tin boxes, because I purchase coffee in this precise packaging. After having resused them I have to recycle or I'll be buried. LOL
    But even better than buying coffee in not reclyclable plastic bags! :)

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  6. Hi Danda! :)

    Thank you for your further tips!! :)

    We have some tin boxes, but not that many!
    I would love to have some of yours! :)
    /Maybe you guys could set up a reuse station where you live? Have you got one? Or maybe you could talk to your waste company about it? Ours is interested!! :)/

    Are your tin boxes recyclable?

    Our coffee comes in bags that say they are recyclable - but.. who knows?!
    labelled as #7 I think.. gotta check..
    & with packaging recovery companies asking for EfW/burn to be a priority..?!! hmm..?!

    It's okay, I know you are a busy woman! :)
    & it's been the holidays... Hope you had fun in the holidays!! :)

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